(Clearwisdom.net) South Bend Tribune, IN reported on May 21 that the young cyclists of the bike ride "Pedals of Peace" brought their human rights message to expose the Jiang political group's persecution of Falun Gong in China. For more information on the bike ride, see the Web site www.pedalsofpeace.org.

The bicyclists with Pedals of Peace display banners that were created around the world Thursday as they stopped at the County/City Building in South Bend to talk about the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China. Tribune Photo/BARBARA ALLISON Wang Zuur More on Falun Gong For more information on the bike ride and Falun Gong, see the Web site www.pedalsofpeace.org.

The South Bend Tribune carried the photo, "The bicyclists with Pedals of Peace display banners that were created around the world Thursday as they stopped at the County/City Building in South Bend to talk about the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China."

The report reported that the group arrived at South bend and conducted a Falun Gong exercise demo, "A mostly teenage group of cyclists lined up outside the

County-City Building on Thursday and took cues in Chinese from a tape

recorder the size of a coffee cup. Eyelids settled. Arms swept deliberately. Hands crossed in front of lower abdomens, then overhead..."

The report stated, "The cyclists left Washington, D.C., on May 13 on a tour called 'Pedals of Peace.' The cyclists expect to reach their final destination, Chicago, today" where they will support a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, a former Chinese leader who is the chief official responsible for the persecution.

The practitioners pointed out that Falun Gong isn't a religion. Falun Gong is a peaceful practice system for both mind and body improvement based on universal principles "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance". Falun Gong has spread to over 60 countries and over 100 million people have benefited from the practice. However, in China, the peaceful and beneficial practice has been persecuted. The former leader Jiang Zemin and his followers carry out the inhumane persecution, which has resulted in over 960 documented cases of deaths and hundreds of thousands practitioners being imprisoned in jails, labor camps, detention centers and mental hospitals. Jiang and his followers have been sued in numerous countries for their acts of torture, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The report continued, "The cyclists carried stories with them.

Competitive cyclist and mountain climber Keith Ware, 47, spoke of pain in

his knees that he couldn't shake for 25 years until he started practicing

Falun Gong in 2000. He offered the practice in the gym he runs in

Washington.

Then he spoke up for the cause. He said he and his wife were beaten two

years ago on a trip to China with 60 other protesters.

The couple walked onto Beijing's Tiananmen Square with a banner that read in

Chinese three tenets of Falun Gong: "truth, compassion, tolerance," he said.

Police "tackled" them and interrogated them."

The reporter also interviewed a student, "Hao Wang, a 19-year-old student at Yale University, said he and his Chinese-American family went for a vacation in Iceland in 2002. When they arrived, he said, they were among about 70 people who were pulled aside and questioned about their plans and whether they practiced Falun Gong. They

were taken to a school and detained about 18 hours, he said."

They were on a "blacklist" developed by Chinese agents.

Willem Zuur, a 19-year-old film actor in New York City who will play a minor

role (Gerald) in the upcoming film "The Village," said that police arrested and questioned him for six hours when he traveled to China in February. The reason was that he and his travel mates chatted with a cabdriver and told him they practiced Falun Gong.

Reference

Young cyclists bring human rights message

By JOSEPH DITS

http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/05/21/local.20040521-sbt-LOCL-D4-Young_cyclists_bring.sto